Donald Trump has revealed that he vetoed a number of sketches ahead of his controversial appearance as host on Saturday Night Live, claiming the show's writers 'went a little bit too far'. The Republican presidential frontrunner said he rejected the sketches to preserve his poll ratings in the key primary state of Iowa.
Trump's appearance on the long-running sketch show on Saturday prompted sizeable protests outside NBC studios in New York, with one political action committee offering a $5,000 'bounty' to any audience member who would heckle him. Despite a staged heckle from comedian Larry David, there were no interruptions from the audience.
The show was poorly received, with muted laughs inside the studio and a general drubbing online. Culture site the AV Club dismissed it as 'a dreadful, toothless, dead-eyed slog', while Slate described Trump as 'a hall monitor, preventing any good jokes about Trump from being made'.
During his opening monologue, Trump promised his appearance would be 'something special' and said part of the reason he accepted the gig was 'to show I can take a joke'. In one particularly sympathetic sketch, Trump imagined himself at the White House in 2018, having solved all the world's major geopolitical crises.
Trump's appearance drew intense criticism from activists who accuse him of racism for his hardline stance on immigration. NBC had previously severed ties with the Trump-owned Miss Universe franchise following his controversial remarks in June, in which he accused Mexican immigrants of being rapists and 'bringing drugs … bringing crime' to the US.
